Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Becca Balint (VT-AL) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led colleagues in pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi on whether there was corruption and political favoritism at the Department of Justice (DOJ) involving the agency’s questionable review of the massive merger between real estate giants Compass and Anywhere Real Estate. The lawmakers’ push follows the ouster of top DOJ antitrust official Gail Slater last week, raising questions about whether political interference is causing DOJ to stymie critical antitrust reviews of massive mergers that threaten to raise costs for consumers. 

“This decision raises questions about corruption under your watch and its impact on housing affordability for American families. Allowing this merger will make it easier for these firms to exert greater control over the real estate market, limit consumer access and choice, and ultimately exacerbate the housing crisis that has put homeownership out of reach for millions of Americans,” wrote the lawmakers. 

The letter was also signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Representatives Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.). 

Real estate brokerage behemoths Compass and Anywhere announced a $1.6 billion merger in September of last year, subject to DOJ review. In a surprise move last month, Compass announced that it had completed its acquisition of Anywhere far ahead of schedule. The merger combines two of the nation’s largest residential real-estate brokerages, creating the largest agent network in the country — and raising antitrust and competition concerns. 

With a housing crisis already flattening American families under Donald Trump, further consolidation in the market threatens to make it even harder for consumers to afford homeownership. Mergers like Compass-Anywhere can push homeownership even further out of reach — making a thorough and serious DOJ review of the merger all the more critical. 

But DOJ leadership — namely the office of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — reportedly hindered the agency’s antitrust review of the Compass-Anywhere merger, failing to protect Americans. Recent reporting revealed that DOJ Antitrust Division leadership, including recently-ousted Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, sought an extended investigation of the transaction given concerns it might violate federal antitrust law, but senior DOJ leaders overrode Slater and cleared the transaction without additional review. This decision by DOJ leadership apparently came after Compass hired Mike Davis — a Trump-allied lawyer who has been involved in other merger review controversies. Reporting suggests that Davis was responsible for pushing the Compass-Anywhere review forward — and after Slater was forced out of DOJ, Davis bragged that he recommended her firing. 

“The fact pattern reported in the Compass-Anywhere deal is deeply disturbing, indicating that it may be another example of well-connected industries and lobbyists obtaining inside access to high-level Trump Administration DOJ officials, and using this access to pervert the antitrust process to obtain approval of anticompetitive mergers that will reduce competition and harm the public,” wrote the lawmakers. 

This isn’t the first instance of apparent corruption under AG Bondi’s watch at DOJ. In July, lawmakers sounded the alarm regarding DOJ’s settlement of the Hewlett Packard-Juniper networks merger, after reports indicated that defendants retained lobbyists and consultants with ties to the Trump White House and DOJ leadership — resulting in the ouster of multiple of Slater’s deputies. In December, lawmakers pressed Bondi to recuse herself from DOJ’s review of any merger involving Warner Bros., given Bondi’s own apparent conflicts of interest and the cloud of corruption at the DOJ. Earlier this week, Senator Warren joined colleagues in pressing Bondi on Slater’s ouster, citing reports about Mike Davis’s involvement and sounding the alarm about the Trump administration’s commitment to enforcing antitrust laws. 

“Corruption in this process could exacerbate the current housing crisis, under which foreclosures are up 26 percent and mortgage delinquencies are at a four-year-high, while also setting a dangerous precedent that invites political interference in merger review across industries and undermines the antitrust laws that Congress put in place to safeguard competition and protect Americans,” wrote the lawmakers. 

To ensure that the DOJ enforces antitrust law independently and fairly, the lawmakers pressed for more information about the agency’s unusual approval of the Compass-Anywhere merger and requested answers by March 5, 2026. 

Text of Letter (PDF) 

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